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Introduction to Research

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Sources of Knowledge

• Tradition• Authorities• Personal experience• Trial and error• Intuition• Disciplined research

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Purposes of Research

• Identification• Description• Exploration• Explanation• Prediction & Control

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Methods for Research

• Research methods– are the techniques used by researchers to

structure a study and to gather and analyze information relevant to the research question

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Methods for Nursing Research

• Quantitative– The study of phenomena that lend

themselves to precise measurement and quantification, often involving a rigorous and controlled design

• Qualitative– The investigation of phenomena,

typically in an in-depth and holistic fashion, through the collection of rich narrative material using a flexible research design

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Quantitative Research - Scientific Approach - Positivist Paradigm

• Quantitative Research– Uses orderly, disciplined procedures to acquire information– Uses deductive reasoning (developing specific predictions from

general principles) to generate hunches that are tested– Uses mechanisms to control the study (minimizes biases,

maximizes validity)– Gathers empirical evidence (evidence that is rooted in objective

reality and gathered directly or indirectly through the senses versus guessing or feelings)

– Formalized instruments are used to gather information– Data is usually in numeral form – Want results to be generalizable

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Qualitative Research - Naturalistic Approach - Naturalistic Paradigm

• Qualitative Research– Deals with issues of human complexity– Explores human issues– Attempts to understand experience as it is lived – Collects and analyzes information through narrative and

subjective material – Takes place in the field– Collection and analysis of information occurs concurrently– Uses inductive reasoning (process of developing conclusions

and generalizations from specific observations) – Not usually generalizable

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Basic and Applied Research

• Basic Research– Purpose is to:

• Accumulate information• Extend knowledge• Formulate a theory

• Applied Research– Purpose is to:

• Find an immediate solution to a current problem

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Research Terminology – The study

• The study– An investigation or research project

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Research Terminology

• Study participants or subjects (quantitative & qualitative studies)– The people being studied

• Study informants (qualitative studies)– The people providing the information for the study

• Researchers or investigator– Person performing the research

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Research Terminology

• Concepts (what is being investigated)– An abstraction based on observations of certain

behaviors or characteristics; an image or symbolic representation of an abstract idea

– An explanatory variable or principle in a scientific system

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Research Terminology

• Phenomena– The abstract concept under investigation in a

qualitative study, used instead of the term variable

• Theory– An abstract generalization that presents a systematic

explanation about the relationships among phenomena– A reasoned explanation of known facts or phenomena

that serves as a basis of investigation by which to reach the truth, to explain some aspect of the world

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Research Terminology

• Variables (quantitative research)– Is any quality of a person, group, or situation that

varies or takes on different values– Can be manipulated and measured in research– Is something that varies– Usually refers, in quantitative studies, to the concepts

• i.e. B/P, weight, pain – varies from one person to the next

Quantitative research seeks to understand how or why things vary and to learn how differences in one variable affect another

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Research Terminology Dependent & Independent Variables

• Independent variables– Presumed cause (an intervention)

• Dependent variables– Presumed effect of an intervention

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Research Terminology Dependent & Independent Variables

• Variation in the dependent variable is presumed to depend on variation of the independent variable

• The dependent variable (outcome variable) is the variable the researcher is interested in understanding, explaining or predicting

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Research Terminology Dependent & Independent Variables

• Variables are independent or dependent depending on the role the variable plays in a particular study

• Variables need to be defined in each study – operational definition, operations that the researcher must perform to collect the required information

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Research Terminology

• Data: are the pieces of information obtained in a study - “collected data”

• Quantitative – numeric information

• Qualitative – narrative descriptions

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Research Terminology

• Relationships in quantitative research– Cause and effect

relationships– Functional or associative

relationships– More than, less than

• Relationships in qualitative research– Seeks patterns of

association, interconnected themes

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Research Terminology

• Literature review: – A critical summary of research on a topic of interest– Builds on existing theory or research

• Hypothesis (quantitative): – A prediction about relationships between variables– What the researcher expects to find

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Research Terminology

• Research design: – Is the overall plan for obtaining answers to the

questions being studied

• Population: – Is an aggregate of all individuals or objects with some

common, defining characteristic

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Research Terminology

• Sample: – A subset of the population

• Pilot study: – A small-scale trial run of the study

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Reference

Loiselle, C. G., Profetto-McGrath, J., Polit, D. F., & Beck, C. T. (2011). Canadian essentials of nursing research. (3rd ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.